Many people, including our President Trump, believe that government should be run like a business. Certainly, there is a lot we can take from the private sector like efficiency but should we encourage our government to maximize profit (or even profit)? The role of government is to protect the safety and well-being of its citizens. Law enforcement plays a vital role in achieving this end.

Between 2008 and 2015, arrests for marijuana in Michigan rose 17 percent statewide, while arrests for all crimes dropped by 15 percent. This trend is an epidemic that is occurring across the United States. America’s homicide clearance rate—the percentage of solved crimes that lead to arrest—has fallen considerably in the past 50 years, from around 90% in 1965 to around 64% in 2012, according to federal statistics. This means more than 211,000 homicides committed since 1980 remain unsolved.

Of course, society may be different today, and civil rights violations happened more frequently back in 1967 but cops could use resources to investigate rapes, assaults and even murder.

The motivation for law enforcement to go after marijuana crimes more aggressively than homicide is simple, money. Marijuana arrests pose less risk for cops and cannabis consumers often have more money than the average murderer. Civil judicial forfeiture is a controversial legal process in which law enforcement officers take assets from persons suspected of involvement with a crime or illegal activity without necessarily charging the owners with wrongdoing.

Law enforcement has done a fantastic job in running departments as a business and maximizing its profit fully while falling short in some areas of protection, safety, and well-being of society.

Value of Asset Forfeiture Recoveries Reported by US Attorneys

Year

Asset Value

Annual %Chg

1989

$285,000,039

—

1990

451,870,952

+58.6%

1991

596,879,728

+32.1%

1992

325,786,450

-45.4%

1993

385,000,701

+18.2%

1994

418,224,247

+8.6%

1995

464,666,914

+11.1%

1996

377,527,900

-18.8%

1997

570,656,170

+51.2%

1998

280,808,572

-50.8%

1999

535,767,852

+90.8%

2000

312,676,413

-41.6%

2001

199,043,103

-36.3%

2002

322,246,408

+61.9%

2003

342,862,000

+6.4%

2004

300,779,267

-12.3%

2005

313,866,115

+4.4%

2006

841,094,697

+168.0%

2007

1,323,094,697

+57.3%

2008

1,103,810,683

-16.6%

2009

1,129,381,466

+2.3%

2010

1,786,567,692

+58.2%

TOTAL

$12,667,612,066

+19.4%

See more at: http://www.drugwarfacts.org/cms/Forfeiture#sthash.QRJngQ7G.dpuf